Green Bridge incubator is honored by the request from the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and IOC-UNESCO to determine the selection of companies that focus on efficiently deployable technologies for UNESCO's Exhibition Blue Economy and Sustainability.

From 7 to 9 March Minister Didier Reynders receives sixty stubborn high-level group, particularly ambassadors and diplomats of the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) in Brussels and Ostend. These islands have a unique but highly vulnerable marine biodiversity. The main socio-environmental challenges facing the Small Islands Developing States and now face in the future, its energy, drinking water, flood risks and the loss of biodiversity due to pollution.

This two-day meeting was initiated to support Minister Reynders in Belgium's candidacy for a non-permanent seat adding in 2019-2020 at UNESCO.

As a key figure in the Belgian-European Blue Growth sector and being the link between the knowledge and business world, Green Bridge has an excellent look at the field of easily deployable and maintainable, sustainable energy solutions at remote sites. Energy sources used, range from wave, solar, wind and hydro energy and waste heat conversion.

With the support of Ghent University it was able to locate 8 other solution providers active in delivering in addition to it’s in-house incubator companies Laminaria (wave energy) and Subcon (artificial reefs).

Laminaria is the first wave power technology to have a working strategy capable to manage even the most extreme conditions that occur in the oceans. www.laminaria.be

XANT is a Belgian mid-size “cyclone proof” wind turbine producer.XANT turbines are designed with rural-electrification applications in mind and a special focus on remote/harsh areas. Yes, also your island!www.xant.be

TIGER POWER’s purpose is to contribute to a better world by creating innovative solutions to bring clean energy to off- grid locations. Tiger Power’s ambitions are fully aligned and contribute directly and indirectly to a number of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.www.tigerpower.eu

Subcon is a world-leader in the design and installation of Offshore Artificial Reefs. With more than 10 major reef developments in Australia, the response from Government and Community has been extremely positive.www.subcon.com

Sea2see Eyewear is a start-up based in Barcelona, Spain which collects and recycle sea plastic waste and reconverts it into premium eyewear. www.sea2see.org

Turbulent develops reliable micro-hydro power plants to deliver clean energy to even the most remote communities by mimicking nature, our plants do not harm local ecosystem. www.turbulent.be

DEME is a global offshore solutions provider, tackling major societal challenges such as climate change and sea level rising in a responsible and integrated manner.www.deme-group.com

E-RATIONAL is the first Belgian enterprise to provide the world with a compact solution for converting waste heat into green sustainable energy. No Heat to Waste! www.e-rational.net

As a socially responsible university UGent puts efforts in tackling global, societal challenges that also small islands are facing.

Two research groups paid their contribution to the event:

CartoGISuses remote sensing to analyze the impact of climate change and proposes risk models to calculate the socio-economic impact of flooding.

PaInTproposes an energy-efficient method for converting sea water into potable water (desalination) and a small-scale system to turn waste water eg. purify urine into drinking water.

SATURN (Solar-Assisted Treatment of Urine with Recovery of Nutrients) is aimed at recovery fertilizers and high quality potable water from human urine using as little energy and resources as possible (aimed at running solely on solar energy or waste heat). UGent link

REvivED water, a new research and innovation project funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme in the field of ‘low-energy solutions for drinking water’, brings together ten partners from six countries across Europe that will contribute to overcoming the drinking water challenge by establishing electrodialysis (ED) as the new standard for desalination.www.revivedwater.eu